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Nordreich Liga Season II
]] Nordreich Liga Season II ran from January 15, 2010 to March 19, 2010. Heading into Season II, numerous franchise changes took place: Valkyries, FC Oder-Festung 1920, C.S. Napoli, Vlaamsche Boerkens, and FC Craiova Sud joined the league as expansion clubs; Nordland folded; Northern Reich was renamed Dorpat Lions and Nordenstrom United was renamed Zemo City Avengers. The league format changed as two divisions (Liga 1 and Liga 2) were established with promotion / relegation between them. Final Standings Regular Season Nordreich Liga 1 Statistics Leaders Liga 1 All-Star Team Nordreich Liga 2 Statistics Leaders Liga 2 All-Star Team Retirements The following players retired at the conclusion of the season on March 25, 2010: *'Tróndur Andreassén' (Valkyries) fullback; retired at age 39 *'Gilberto Bresciano' (Scottoria FC) midfielder; retired at age 39 *'Osvaldo Caixinha' (Scottoria FC) fullback; retired at age 36 *'Paul Dassen' (Neon City) forward; retired at age 32 *'Brian Kilfenora' (Scottoria FC) forward; retired at age 36 *'Germano Queiroga' (FC Craiova Sud) forward; retired at age 33 *'Stanley Simons' (Vlaamsche Boerkens) fullback; retired at age 33 League MVP *'Lazar Vaskovic (Dorpat Lions) - 9 X11 selections' *Sven-Östein Haraldsson (Zemo City Avengers) - 8 X11 selections *Eugene Tchami (NVK Kaapstad Hornets) - 8 X11 selections Manager of the Season *'Foumpie (Vlaamsche Boerkens) 6 ''MOTW selections''' *Ratonbox (FC Craiova Sud) 4 MOTW selections *St6mm (Dorpat Lions) 3 MOTW selections *Norwood86 (Scottoria FC) 3 MOTW selections *BaronZemo (Zemo City Avengers) 2 MOTW selections *Botha (NVK Kaapstad Hornets) 2 MOTW selections Nordreich Cup First Round Matches played on January 12 and January 19, 2010 *Valkyries defeated The Scimitars (1-0, 2-1) *Italia defeated FC Craiova Sud (2-3, 3-1) *Dorpat Lions defeated C.S. Napoli (1-0, 3-0) *FC Oder-Festung 1920 defeated Vlaamsche Boerkens (0-0, 1-1) Quarter-Finals Matches played on January 26 and February 2, 2010 *FC Oder-Festung 1920 defeated Zemo City Avengers (2-0, 1-1) *NVK Kaapstad Hornets defeated Valkyries (2-4, 4-0) *Dorpat Lions defeated Neon City (4-0, 2-0) *Scottoria defeated Italia (2-0, 3-0) Semi-Finals Matches played on February 9 and February 16, 2010 *FC Oder-Festung 1920 defeated NVK Kaapstad Hornets (0-0, 2-0) *Dorpat Lions defeated Scottoria FC (2-0, 1-0) FEBRUARY 3, 2010 - Semi-Finals Preview Dorpat Lions vs Scottoria FC: This match-up has all the makings of a classic between the two strongest, most talented sides in all the Nordreich Liga. In all positions except for defense, Dorpat Lions lead the league and Scottoria FC is usually close behind. Defensively both teams are middle of the road, so form will be critical for fullbacks although in the past the Lions have used a defensive-minded game to their advantage. Dorpat has a distinct advantage in goal with league MVP Hillo Maalepp - who may well prove to be the gamemaker or gamebreaker. FC Oder-Festung 1920 vs NVK Kaapstad Hornets: On paper, the Hornets should win this series but Oder-Festung has been on a hot streak as of late. Kaapstad has the best defense in the entire league and a slight edge in attack while Oder-Festung's strengths are an edge in midfield and a noticble advanatage in goal compared to the Hornets. Whomever wins this series will be dependant on strong form in their key positions and Kaapstad will require an outstanding effort from their troika of very young and inexperienced keepers. While the Hornets do have better overall talent, their young squad often sputters for finish in the later stages of the game. Nordreich Cup Finals Matches played on February 23 and March 2, 2010 *Dorpat Lions defeated FC Oder-Festung 1920 (1-0, 3-0) FEBRUARY 18, 2010 - Championship Finals Preview Dorpat Lions vs FC Oder-Festung 1920: Dorpat Lions have built up an frighteningly dangerous team in the course of two seasons with the best-ranked goalkeeping, midfield, and attack in the entire Nordreich Liga. Neither team is stellar for quality fullbacks - which is rather unusual as FC Oder-Festung 1920 is known to play an overtly defensive style (they gave up just three shots on net during their semi-final series versus NVK Kaapstad Hornets) while Dorpat has also done well in the past with a defensive mentality. FC Oder-Festung 1920 does possess the best goalkeeping in Liga 2 and their keepers are ranked second-overall in the Nordreich Liga - so expect to see a goaltending duel between veterans as 32-year-old Claus Jänicke will need to stand on his head to keep the Lions at bay, while 35-year-old MVP Hillo Maalepp will be tough to beat. Dorpat will probably go with a line-up heavy on midfield and fullbacks while FC Oder-Festung 1920, thin for midfield players, will probably opt for more for a defensive system to smother Dorpat to sleep like they did with the Hornets. Neither team has many options for creative offense, this will be a low-scoring struggle where the teams chip away at their opposing defense to make the most of rare opportunities. FEBRUARY 26, 2010 - Championship Finals Preview (Second Leg) Expansion darlings FC Oder-Festung 1920 have their work cut out for them in getting past Dorpat Lions in the second leg rematch at Valhalla Tartu next Tuesday. However the narrow 1-0 scoreline for the Lions is not an insurmountable hurdle. At the first leg played at Härteschloß Stadion, Oder-Festung played their typical smothering defensive style to counter the Lions attacking game which meant that keeper Claus Jänicke faced more than double the number of shots as his opposite, the great Hillo Maalepp, had to deal with. Two shots versus Maalepp is not going to win any matches – and Oder-Festung’s offense will have to provide more opportunities. Problem is that the Härteschloßers almost always rely on a defensive style because they have so little up front to work with, glaringly so at midfield, where shutting down Raymond Ortmann usually translates into shutting down their entire middle game; likewise if Mikkjel Fiskerstrand is shadowed closely up front by Dorpat’s fullbacks. Dorpat Lions do have some concerns as well at midfield as stalwart Anton Kruuv will be returning from injuries – the question is whether his form will have improved enough to be the dangerous threat on midfield which he has to be going into this match? FC Oder-Festing 1920 are easily outclassed in all regards on the pitch yet their manager has gained a reputation for developing a cagey, creative game plan which has outplayed and sent the likes of Vlaamsche Boerkens, Zemo City Avengers, and NVK Kaapstad Hornets all packing for home early. Having to get past that kind of line-up to reach Dorpat is no easy feat. Even if Manager Niflungland loses the match, to reach the cup final as a first-year expansion club is nevertheless a great achievement to build on for next season. As for Dorpat Lions, no other manager has done so much in Season II to revamp their club and put a winning product on the field every week. Team Pages *'NVK Kaapstad Hornets' *'FC Oder-Festung 1920' Category:Sports Category:Soccer Category:Nordreich Liga Category:Nordreich